


More than Words (is all I need)

by miloron (ocoa)



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, If I'm championing this ship, Jihoon centric, M/M, and rare pair, cos I hate prelims and a Levels, cos JR and Woozi, i will call this JZ, ignore me, like Jay Z, so let me have my fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-20 03:11:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11911995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ocoa/pseuds/miloron
Summary: Jonghyun and Jihoon weren't good with words, but that never stopped them.





	More than Words (is all I need)

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up with plot suggestions or anything at my [askFM page](https://ask.fm/bugiron) hoho

When they meet, it's at Pledis, and he's watching as Jihoon shows off his ability to sing. Beside him is a person he would later learn to be called Seungcheol (and even later, S Coups) but Jihoon finds himself fixated on the unassuming boy who's maybe a year older than him at most, who seems quiet but the look in his eye is almost frightening. He feels the bumps on his arms rise, strangely more uncomfortable at the attention of the singular boy than at the other ten pairs of eyes staring at him at the audition.

He finds out his name is Kim Jonghyun, and Jihoon cracks a joke about him having the same name as that one SHINee guy, to which Jonghyun replies with a shy laugh.

They're friends from then on, even when Jihoon gets close to Dongho, Minhyun and Minki because Jonghyun is insanely shy and quiet, but sometimes Jihoon prefers the quiet he can share with Jonghyun so their friendship mainly is about sitting at the side of the practice room and quietly talking through the practices and choreography that they play around with.

They get so close, Jihoon doesn't really know when friendship turns to love, but he just ignores the fluttering of his chest and the warmth in his face when Jonghyun reacts to anything that he says.

They don't say much, but Jihoon wasn't one for words anyway.

Jonghyun, Minki, Dongho, Minhyun and Aron (who just came from LA and is an even worse communicator than Jonghyun on account of his language barrier) are made to form a group, and Jihoon's disappointed.

He wanted to debut with Jonghyun and the others, but is he just not good enough?

Jonghyun sits with him, and he continues to discuss choreography with him, even talking about Nu'est's debuting choreography. It makes him feel honoured, that Jonghyun asks him (though he also asked Soonyoung), and maybe that was the whole point.

Jihoon finds himself falling faster for Jonghyun, who never loses the light from his eyes, who never stops loving the stage.

Jihoon falls for Jonghyun, who even when everything starts to fail and Nu'est starts to fail, and the eye bags under his friends' eyes start to become more obvious, keeps trying, pushing, and breaking.

He finds Jonghyun crumpled against the floor one day, and he has a fever. Overexertion, is what the doctor says.

"You're an idiot." Jihoon says. Jonghyun shrugs.

"I need to get better," Jonghyun slurs, "I'm not good enough yet. That's why we keep failing."

Jihoon gives a frustrated sigh, but he doesn't know how to disprove it, as much as he wants to. Because to him, Jonghyun was too good, Nu'est was too good, and the rest of the world were idiots for not seeing them.

Jonghyun let's out a watery laugh, and Jihoon's head snaps up to meet Jonghyun's eyes, how they shake with the swelling of tears.

"CEO Han spoke to me today. He might be putting us on the second season of Produce 101, all of us."

Jihoon frowned. "But isn't that for.."

"He wants to see that we're worth keeping. Maybe we could get more traction when we join."

"But Aron-hyung's leg..."

Jonghyun's smile is sad, "I can't do anything. I'm useless as a leader. I can't even protect them."

Jihoon grits his teeth, before reaching out to clutch Jonghyun's hand. They glance at each other and Jihoon tries to communicate as much of his confidence as he can to Jonghyun.

Jihoon knows he can do it. That Nu'est can do it. Because he's known them for years, and he knows.

"You're more than you think you are, hyung." He whispers.

Jonghyun smiles, and it's still sad, but Jihoon is at least quelled by the fact that it's less than before. Jihoon leant down and pressed his lips to Jonghyun's temple.

Jonghyun relaxes under the touch, and Jihoon's chest swells.

"You're so much more." He finds himself saying, and meaning. Jonghyun's eyes snap to meet his, and there's a silence that rings.

"Thanks Jihoonie," Jonghyun says, breathily.

They don't really say words, or anything substantial really, but after that day something about their relationship changes.

Into what, Jihoon doesn't know, because after that day, Jonghyun is accepted into Produce 101 and Jihoon has a world tour with Seventeen.

Maybe that's why he stumbles when his phone buzzes with a message from Jonghyun, why his heart begins to stammer and race when his mind comprehends the message, why he rushes to call Jonghyun that September night even though they're countries apart, even when really, the message Jonghyun sends is nothing much.

>From: Pledis Kim Jonghyun (<3)  
Can we talk?

His chest is tight with hope, with the fantasy that maybe, maybe there's something different. The phone clicks.

" **Hello?** "

**Author's Note:**

> Whelp, so I have a few story ideas I want to write, but no pairings to write them against, so throw me the craziest pairing that you've never seen before and I will write it. 
> 
> (I'll be honest this pairing came up when I was first writing WinkBugi because I was like, wait, what if Lee Jihoon and Park Jihoon met,,,, and then things happened) 
> 
> Anyway, I'm having exams currently, and I might be sparingly active over the next few months till December, because Singapore's education is made to kill you, and my brain hasn't exactly been in the right place (nor has my body - right at this moment I might have taken too much sugar/my body is breaking down again because I feel very twitchy - leading to this update)
> 
> In any case, I hope you enjoyed, maybe you'll want to see stranger pairings, so hit me up if you do. I like rare pairs, I live on that.


End file.
